Abstract

This collection consists of business and personal
papers of Jeffries family members, primarily David Jeffries (1658-1742), David
Jeffries (1690-1716), David Jeffries (1714-1784), and John Jeffries (b. 1689),
merchants of Boston and Portsmouth, N.H., and papers of physician and Loyalist
John Jeffries (1745-1819).

Biographical Sketches

Note: The names in italics below are the names used by Walter Lloyd
Jeffries, the compiler of this collection, to identify the various Jeffries
family members. These italicized names are used in the Detailed Description of
the Collection below.

David Jeffries (1658-1742) (David Jeffries II) was a Boston merchant. A native of
Rhoad, Wiltshire, England, he settled in Boston in 1677 and married Elizabeth
Usher, the daughter of John Usher (1648-1726). Their children were: Jane
Jeffries (b. 1687); John Jeffries (b. 1689); David Jeffries (1690-1716);
Elizabeth Jeffries (b. 1692), who married (1st) Charles Shepreeve in 1709 and
(2nd) Benjamin Eliot in 1723; Rebecca Jeffries (b. 1693), who married Ebenezer
Wentworth in 1711; Sarah Jeffries (b. 1695), who married George Jaffrey in
1711; Francis Jeffries (1696-1715); and Peter Jeffries (1697-1698).

John Jeffries (b. 1689) (Hon. John Jeffries) was a merchant who married Ann
Clarke in 1713.

David Jeffries (1690-1716) (David Jeffries III) was a merchant who married Katherine
Eyre, the daughter of John Eyre and Katherine Brattle Eyre, in 1713. Katherine
Eyre Jeffries married (2nd) Oliver Noyes in 1719. Her mother, Katherine Brattle
Eyre, married (2nd) Wait Still Winthrop.

David Jeffries (1714-1784) (David Jeffries IV), the son of David Jeffries
(1690-1716) and Katherine Eyre Jeffries, was the deacon of Old South Church and
town treasurer of Boston. In 1741, he married (1st) his first cousin Sarah
Jaffrey, who died in 1753. In 1755, he married (2nd) the widow of Israel
Walker, Deborah Lyde Walker, who died in 1767. In 1768, he married (3rd) Hannah
Winslow, who died in 1783. In 1784, he married (4th) Sarah Leach Rhoads, the
widow of Henry Rhoads.

John Jeffries (1745-1819) (Dr. John Jeffries), the son of David Jeffries
(1714-1784) and Sarah Jaffrey Jeffries, was a Loyalist, physician, and
balloonist. He studied medicine under Dr. James Lloyd of Boston. In 1773, he
married (1st) Sarah Rhoads, who died in 1780. Their son died in 1796, and their
daughter Ann Jeffries would later marry Samuel Brown. Dr. John Jeffries married
(2nd) Hannah Hunt, the daughter of William Hunt, in 1787. They had ten
children, four of whom died young.

John Usher (1648-1726) was a Boston bookseller,
colonel of militia, member of the governor's council, treasurer and receiver
general of the Territory and Dominion of New England under Sir Edmund Andros,
land speculator, and lieutenant governor of New Hampshire from 1692-1697 and
1702-1716. He married (1st) Elizabeth Lidget, the daughter of Peter Lidget (d.
1676), and (2nd) Elizabeth Allen, the daughter of New Hampshire grantee Samuel
Allen. Usher's daughter Elizabeth Usher married David Jeffries (1658-1742).

Collection Description

This collection consists of business and personal papers of Jeffries family
members, primarily David Jeffries (1658-1742), David Jeffries (1690-1716),
David Jeffries (1714-1784), and John Jeffries (b. 1689), merchants of Boston
and Portsmouth, N.H., and papers of physician and Loyalist John Jeffries
(1745-1819). The collection also contains papers of John Usher, receiver
general of New England under Sir Edmund Andros and lieutenant governor of New
Hampshire; Boston merchants Charles Lidget (1650-1698) and Peter Lidget (d.
1676); physician Isaac Waldron; apothecary William Davis and his son Benjamin;
John Cooke, an English merchant in Oporto, Portugal; Henry Rhoads; Aeneas
Salter; and Boston shipping merchants David Jeffries and Company, John and
David Jeffries, and Jeffries and Shepreeve. The collection was compiled,
arranged, and tipped into volumes by Walter Lloyd Jeffries and includes some
notes and documents in his hand, as well as an index (Vol. 34).

Arrangement

The papers in this collection are arranged topically, not chronologically.
There is an individual index at the beginning of each volume, and Volume 34
contains an index to the entire collection. Volume 29 (copies of Usher papers
from the British Archives Public Records Office, 1689-1715) has been removed to
the John Usher papers, Ms. N-2071 (XT), and cataloged separately. Some of the
volumes, as noted in the Detailed Description of the Collection, are available
on microfilm, P-493.

The papers have been removed from the bound volumes (Vol. 1-34) and rehoused
in document boxes. The former volume numbers are included in the Detailed
Description of the Collection below.

Custodial History

Most of the papers in this collection were found in the attic of Faneuil
Hall, Boston, Mass., by a city official and turned over to Walter Lloyd
Jeffries. Jeffries has made occasional notes throughout the papers as to the
provenance of individual documents.

Detailed Description of the Collection

Included are tax lists for Massachusetts towns, generally 1687 and 1688;
town rates and receipts; receipts and orders as treasurer; and papers regarding
a few ships.

Box 2Vol. 2

Papers of John Usher,
1674-1714

Included are treasury receipts, custom house entries (mostly regarding
shipping from the West Indies), and letters from Sir Edmund Andros, John Ive,
and others.

Cased Vol. A

Index to Volume 2

Box 3Vol. 3

Correspondence of John Usher,
1682-1724

Included are letters from David Jeffries, 1692, 1701, 1703.

Box 4Vol. 4

Papers of John Usher,
1622-1738

Included are legal papers (various lawsuits and transactions), papers of
Usher as lieutenant governor of New Hampshire, and material related to the
million-acre grant.

Box 5Vol. 5

Papers of David Jeffries II,
1652-1713

Included are papers of the estate of Major Benjamin Davis (1649-1704), for
which Jeffries was executor; papers of Capt. William Davis (d. 1676), for whom
Benjamin Davis was executor; letters from George Bulkeley to Benjamin Davis,
1699-1704; and business papers of David Jeffries II.

Available on microfilm, P-493, Reel 1.

Cased Vol. B

Index and loose pages from Vol. 5

Available on microfilm, P-493, Reel 1.

Box 6Vol. 6

Papers of Peter and Charles Lidget, Isaac Waldron, and John Usher,
1672-1695

Papers of Peter and Charles Lidget include correspondence with John Ive and
others, legal and business papers, ships' papers, and bills and accounts. This
volume also contains Isaac Waldron legal papers and some John Usher items.

Papers of Isaac Waldron include material related to his estate, legal
papers, bills, invoices, and correspondence. This volume also contains David
Jeffries II legal papers, correspondence, and miscellaneous items, as well as
Jeffries & Shepreeve legal papers.

Box 8Vol. 8

Papers of Jeffries & Shepreeve and David Jeffries & Co.,
1697-1717

Included are legal papers and correspondence of Jeffries & Shepreeve and
some David Jeffries & Co. items.

Papers of Jeffries & Shepreeve, John & David Jeffries, Hon.
John Jeffries, and David Jeffries III,
1711-1735

Included is correspondence of Jeffries & Shepreeve, legal papers and
correspondence of John & David Jeffries, and papers related to the death of
David Jeffries III in 1716. This volume also contains legal papers and
correspondence of Hon. John Jeffries, including letters from his father David
Jeffries in Portsmouth and material concerning shipbuilding.

Box 8Vol. 9

pp. 1-40

Box 9Vol. 9

pp. 41-150

Papers of Hon. John Jeffries,
1728-1769

This volume contains correspondence and miscellaneous papers, including
letters from Jeffries's father David Jeffries to 1735.

Box 9Vol. 10

pp. 1-50

Box 10Vol. 10

pp. 51-151

Papers of Hon. John Jeffries and others,
1680-1759

Included are papers of Jeffries as executor of the estate of Mrs. Ann Kay;
deeds and correspondence of Thomas Clarke I (d. ca. 1683) and Thomas Clarke II;
correspondence, bills, and receipts of Katherine Jeffries Noyes; and
correspondence of Oliver Noyes and material related to his estate. This volume
also contains papers of Elizabeth Elliot, Sarah Jaffrey, Samuel Wentworth I,
Samuel Wentworth II, Ebenezer Wentworth I, David Jeffries III, and Katherine
Eyre Winthrop.

Box 10Vol. 11

pp. 1-60

Box 11Vol. 11

pp. 61-150

Correspondence of David Jeffries IV,
1737-1782

Included is correspondence with George Jaffrey II and III.

Box 11Vol. 12

pp. 1-60

Box 12Vol. 12

pp. 61-153

Correspondence of David Jeffries IV,
1736-1770

Box 12Vol. 13

pp. 1-100

Box 13Vol. 13

pp. 101-152

Papers of David Jeffries IV,
1758-1785

Included are letters, legal papers, receipts and orders of Jeffries as town
and county treasurer, papers as deacon of Old South Church and as attorney for
Ebenezer Holmes, material regarding the Kennebec Purchase, and miscellaneous
items.

Box 13Vol. 14

pp. 1-97

Box 14Vol. 14

pp. 98-151

Papers of John Usher,
1653-1723

Included are ships' papers, invoices, bills of lading, bills and accounts,
and miscellaneous business papers.

Box 14Vol. 15

pp. 1-91

Box 15Vol. 15

pp. 92-148

Papers of David Jeffries II,
1677-1743

Included are ships' papers, papers of Jeffries as executor of the estate of
Theophilis Minot, miscellaneous business papers, and bills. At the beginning of
the volume is a list of vessels in which the family was interested, probably
compiled by Walter Lloyd Jeffries.

Box 15Vol. 16

pp. 1-90

Box 16Vol. 16

pp. 91-153

Box 17Vol. 17

Papers of David Jeffries II,
1673-1719

Arranged alphabetically by ship name.

Included are David Jeffries & Co. papers for the ships
Adventure to Hope.

Box 18Vol. 18

Papers of David Jeffries II,
1668-1719

Arranged alphabetically by ship name.

Included are David Jeffries & Co. papers for the ships
Iphagenia to Young
Prince.

Box 19Vol. 19

Papers of David Jeffries II and John & David Jeffries,
1694-1726

Included are bills, ships' papers, and miscellaneous business papers of
David Jeffries & Co. and John & David Jeffries.

Box 20Vol. 20

Papers of David & John Jeffries and Hon. John Jeffries,
1703-1777

Included are accounts and bills of David & John Jeffries and
miscellaneous business papers, ships' papers, and bills of Hon. John
Jeffries.

Box 21Vol. 21

Papers of Hon. John Jeffries and Thomas Clarke II,
1686-1773

Included are bills of Hon. John Jeffries, 1714-1773, and miscellaneous
papers of Thomas Clarke II, 1686-1728.

Box 22Vol. 22

Papers of David Jeffries IV and others,
1728-1816

Included are bills, business papers, and miscellaneous items of David
Jeffries IV, 1728-1783. The volume also contains papers of David Jeffries V and
his sisters, Hannah Winslow Jeffries, Oliver Noyes (Messrs. Gough and Noyes),
Hannah Hunt Jeffries, 1814, and Dr. John Jeffries, 1773-1816, as well as family
genealogical notes (p. 117).

Included are letters, legal papers, and business papers of Henry Rhoads and
Hon. John Jeffries, administrator of the estate of Henry Sharpe, who was
executor of the estate of Patrick Ogilvie.

Box 23Vol. 23

pp. 1-125

Box 24Vol. 23

pp. 126-153

Papers of Aeneas Salter,
1705-1719

Included are miscellaneous papers, bills and accounts, orders, and receipts.
Note: These papers were found mixed with the Jeffries
papers at Faneuil Hall. Salter's connection with the family is
unclear.

Box 24Vol. 24

pp. 1-60

Box 25Vol. 24

pp. 61-152

Box 26Vol. 25

Correspondence of John Cooke,
1670-1685

Included is Cooke's English correspondence, arranged alphabetically by
author, A-P. Note: These papers were found mixed with the
Jeffries papers at Faneuil Hall. Cooke's connection with the family is
unclear.

Papers of John Cooke

Included is Cooke's English correspondence, arranged alphabetically by
author, P-Z, as well as his Portuguese correspondence. This volume also
contains legal papers, business papers, bills of lading, invoices, and bills
and accounts. Note: These papers were found mixed with
the Jeffries papers at Faneuil Hall. Cooke's connection with the family is
unclear.

Box 26Vol. 26

pp. 1-50

Box 27Vol. 26

pp. 51-153

Miscellaneous papers from Faneuil Hall and papers of the Jeffries
family,
1658-1841

Included are legal papers, bills and accounts, and manuscript and printed
scraps, 1658-1816. This volume also contains Jeffries correspondence and other
papers, 1719-1841.

Included is a preface written by Walter Lloyd Jeffries in 1895.
Note: This diary continues in Vol. 31.

Available on microfilm, P-493, Reel 2.

Box OS 4Vol. 31

Diary of Dr. John Jeffries,
8 Apr. 1785-21 July 1819 [copy]

Note: This diary is a continuation of Vol. 30, and the
index for this volume is included in the Vol. 30 index.

Available on microfilm, P-493, Reel 2.

Box OS 5Vol. 32

Papers of Dr. John Jeffries,
1775-1791 [copies]

Included is a copy of an orderly book, 1776-1778; copies of accounts,
Headquarters, Halifax, General Hospital, 1784-1791; and copies of miscellaneous
military papers and correspondence, 1775-1785. Note: This
volume continues in Vol. 33.

Available on microfilm, P-493, Reel 3.

Box OS 6Vol. 33

Correspondence of Dr. John Jeffries,
1785-1835 [copies]

Note: This volume is a continuation of Vol. 32, and
the index for this volume is included in the Vol. 32 index.

Preferred Citation

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in
ABIGAIL,
the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers
desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should
search the catalog using these headings.

Persons:

Andros, Edmund, Sir, 1637-1714.

Cooke, John, merchant, fl. 1670-1685.

Davis, Benjamin, 1649-1704.

Davis, William, d. 1676.

Jeffries, David, 1658-1742.

Jeffries, David, 1690-1716.

Jeffries, David, 1714-1784.

Jeffries, John, b. 1689.

Jeffries, John, 1745-1819.

Jeffries, Walter Lloyd, 1854-1898.

Lidget, Charles, 1650-1698.

Lidget, Peter, d. 1676.

Rhoads, Henry, fl. 1650-1675.

Salter, Aeneas, fl. 1705-1719.

Usher, John, 1648-1726.

Waldron, Isaac, physician, fl.
1676-1680.

Organizations:

David Jeffries and Company (Boston,
Mass.).

Jeffries and Shepreeve (Boston,
Mass.).

John and David Jeffries (Boston,
Mass.).

New Hampshire. Lieutenant Governor (Usher :
1692-1697).

New Hampshire. Lieutenant Governor (Usher :
1702-1716).

Territory and Dominion of New-England. Receiver
General.

Subjects:

American loyalists.

Family history--1700-1749.

Family history--1750-1799.

Merchants--Massachusetts--Boston.

Merchants--New Hampshire--Portsmouth.

Merchants--Portugal--Oporto.

Pharmacists--Massachusetts--Boston.

Physicians--Massachusetts--Boston.

Shipping--Massachusetts--Boston.

Collection processed by Katherine H. Griffin,
July 1992, March 2009.

Encoded by Susan Martin,
March 2009

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